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PODCAST

Split Zone Duo: College Football Podcast

Richard Johnson and Alex Kirshner

An independent college football podcast that covers the whole sport, led by Richard Johnson and Alex Kirshner. Free episodes each week (twice per week in season), plus frequent subscriber episodes. Featuring co-host emeritus Steven Godfrey and friends. www.splitzoneduo.com

sports football

All Episodes

42:29

Offseason Vibe Checks 2025: The MAC

Split Zone Duo: College Football Podcast ·

2025/04/23

Alex and Richard break down offseason happenings in the Mid-American Conference, which saw lots of coach carousel turnover. * Ohio: Tim Albin to Charlotte, OC Brian Smith replacing him * Ball State: An off-the-beaten-path coach hire, bringing on a guy who most recently coached non-scholarship football in the Pioneer League * Miami: It’s a Return to the MAC for QB Dequan Finn* Buffalo: Pete Lembo tries to follow up a surprisingly good opening act* Bowling Green: Has an offseason loss of a coach ever

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20:26

The 2025 NFL Draft QB Tiers Special

Split Zone Duo: College Football Podcast ·

2025/04/21

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.splitzoneduo.comRenewing our annual NFL Draft week tradition, Richard is joined by ESPN’s Ben Solak and The Athletic Football Show’s Derrik Klassen for a rollicking good time discussing the 2025 QB class. You'll be surprised at a QB the gang surprisingly can tolerate in a class that is a down year overall.Producer: Anthony Vito

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21:04

CFB Lunch Break: What Does an Ohio State "Down Year"...

Split Zone Duo: College Football Podcast ·

2025/04/17

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.splitzoneduo.comAlex and Richard take a bunch of questions from Split Zone Duo subscribers, recorded at lunch on April 15. The topics covered here include: * Is this the most wide-open track to the national title that CFB has seen in a long time? And what does it even mean for Ohio State to be “down”? * The Group of 5 schools with the biggest NIL war chests * Could Notre Dame be better than last year? (We’re skeptical.) * How does Cal

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12:22

What We Think (And Don't) About Nico Iamaleava

Split Zone Duo: College Football Podcast ·

2025/04/16

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.splitzoneduo.comAlex and Richard react to Nico Iamaleava’s split from Tennessee. We’re less interested in where he plays next (UNC? UCLA? Elsewhere?) and more interested in talking through his last few months as a Volunteer:* The job done by Tennessee’s football staff* The way Iamaleava is doing business* How the state of Tennessee helped bring about this moment* Freedom to move around and live with the consequences* The idea of

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59:23

Offseason Vibe Checks 2025: The AAC

Split Zone Duo: College Football Podcast ·

2025/04/14

Rodger Sherman returns for our offseason check in with the American Athletic Conference, along with Alex and Richard. The group discusses how things have been going since the end of the 2024 season for each team in the AAC:* UTSA finds reason for optimism* Rice gets a bit creative in the coach carousel* FAU makes a hire that Alex is pretty happy about* Tulsa hires a millennial from the FCS ranks* North Texas attempts to finally play a bit of defense, and also returns to the Cam Ward Quarterback

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29:20

Unpacking College Sports Business Turmoil with Matt...

Split Zone Duo: College Football Podcast ·

2025/04/10

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.splitzoneduo.comMatt Brown, publisher of the Extra Points college sports business newsletter, joins Alex to discuss a handful of big business stories that are all coming to a head around the same time. In this show: * The status of the not-quite-finished House settlement * Do we believe in the NCAA’s attempt to make sure that future “NIL” deals are really about the use of a player’s name, image, or likeness? * How power conference

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37:42

Interview: App State Coach Dowell Loggains on a...

Split Zone Duo: College Football Podcast ·

2025/04/07

Alex interviews Dowell Loggains, the recently hired Appalachian State head coach who was most recently at South Carolina after a long run as an NFL assistant and coordinator. After Alex and Richard talk a bit about App State’s last 20 years, Loggains joins (17:10) to discuss:* Why he moved from the NFL to college football at a time when coaches are getting a lot of attention for doing the opposite* Why he isn’t worried about spring games turning into roster poaching showcases for rival schools* The

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19:10

CFB Lunch Break: The Big East is a Window Into the...

Split Zone Duo: College Football Podcast ·

2025/04/02

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.splitzoneduo.comThis episode is for paid subscribers, but everyone can hear a preview. If you’re not a paid subscriber, you can get a weeklong free trial.Alex Kirshner and Richard Johnson take a bunch of live questions from Split Zone Duo subscribers and discuss college football offseason news: * Maryland losing a basketball coach to the Big East is a sign of what’s coming in college sports’ new economy * Is the SEC the next

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69:24

Offseason Vibe Checks 2025: The Big Ten

Split Zone Duo: College Football Podcast ·

2025/03/31

Rodger Sherman joins Alex and Richard for a checkup on all 18 teams in the beefy Big Ten, as our Offseason Vibe Check series rolls on:* Ohio State won the national championship. That’s pretty good! Both the team and coaching staff are about to look a lot different.* Penn State faces its "national championship or go away” season* Washington is very hard to figure out* Michigan might have had the best non-OSU run of any team in the country from Thanksgiving through Signing Day* Purdue welcomes Barry

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14:12

Stanford Is a Bad Job Now

Split Zone Duo: College Football Podcast ·

2025/03/26

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.splitzoneduo.comAndrew Luck fired Stanford coach Troy Taylor after off-field investigations of his conduct came to light. In this episode for SZD subscribers, Alex and Richard discuss the circumstances of Taylor’s firing and Stanford’s challenges:* An investigation timeline going back more than a year* Stanford’s decision to stand by Taylor until there was public heat* How this mirrors Northwestern’s firing of Pat Fitzgerald* Andrew

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75:48

When The Supreme Court Imploded College Football

Split Zone Duo: College Football Podcast ·

2025/03/24

The NCAA had complete control of college football TV. The association decided which games the public could watch, and where, and when, and how much money every school would earn as a result. Then came a new group called the College Football Association, an outside TV deal, and a lawsuit from two schools, Georgia and Oklahoma. What happened next, at the United States Supreme Court, created the fundamentals of how all of us watch college football today. Jay Willis is the editor-in-chief of Balls and

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10:47

Did Oregon Just Make Itself Poach-Proof?

Split Zone Duo: College Football Podcast ·

2025/03/19

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.splitzoneduo.comDan Lanning signed an extension with Oregon that makes it impossible for all but a few teams to hire him away, and most of them aren’t college. Steven Godfrey, Richard Johnson, and Alex Kirshner discuss what his contract says about the evolved pecking order in the coach carousel. After losing both Willie Taggart and Mario Cristobal to Florida schools, has Oregon now ascended to be poaching-proof from everyone except

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34:59

Offseason Vibe Checks 2025: CUSA

Split Zone Duo: College Football Podcast ·

2025/03/17

Alex Kirshner, Richard Johnson, and Dave Campbell’s Texas Football senior writer Mike Craven discuss the state of the offseason in Conference USA, a league that was spicier than most of us expected in 2024:* Jacksonville State loses the braintrust behind a conference championship and will now be completely different* WKU’s run as the cradle of coordinators continues* FIU tries an ultra-Floridian approach* Sam Houston restarts with Phil Longo, who has school ties* Kennesaw State is just trying to be

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19:15

CFB Lunch Break: ACC Settlement, Eddie George, and More

Split Zone Duo: College Football Podcast ·

2025/03/12

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.splitzoneduo.comAlex and Richard take subscribers’ college football questions in this live recording, conducted on the Substack app on Tuesday. We call it CFB Lunch Break, because we’re taking CFB questions at lunchtime:* How we feel about player wearing #0 and single-digits* The winner and loser from the ACC’s settlement with Clemson and FSU, which keeps the ACC together for at least a bit* What’s the real reason that spring games

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58:01

Offseason Vibe Checks 2025: The Big 12

Split Zone Duo: College Football Podcast ·

2025/03/10

Alex Kirshner, Richard Johnson, and Dave Campbell’s Texas Football senior writer Mike Craven discuss how the offseason is going for every team in the Big 12 Conference: * Arizona State keeps a playoff core almost totally intact * Arizona is in the danger zone after Brent Brennan’s first year* Baylor is once again ready to contend for the league * Oklahoma State is in uncharted waters * WVU and UCF both do some fan service * Kansas swaps out coordinators and has a QB injury to monitor* Why Houston

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74:09

Offseason Vibe Checks 2025: The ACC

Split Zone Duo: College Football Podcast ·

2025/03/05

The Offseason Vibe Check series continues with the ACC, as Rodger Sherman joins Alex and Richard to talk about the state of the league. It's not a 2024 recap, and it's not a 2025 preview. It's a check-in with every team in every FBS conference about what's been happening since Thanksgiving. How was the postseason? How was the coach carousel? How was signing day? How was the transfer portal window? And is anything else going on around your program? * Pitt finished on an 0-6 run but has continuity in

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10:43

CFB Lunch Break: Michigan, LSU, Coaching Trees, and More

Split Zone Duo: College Football Podcast ·

2025/03/03

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.splitzoneduo.comAlex and Richard take live and pre-submitted subscriber questions in this quick episode to start off the new month. Topics include: * Biff Poggi’s return to Michigan* The tough job ahead of Pitt’s new AD* Brian Kelly’s make-or-break year * Colorado State continually being just short of being something* The first 100 days of the Belichick UNC administration * Gary Pinkel’s underrated career * Nebraska canceling a

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25:58

Why Kent State Is Always Bad

Split Zone Duo: College Football Podcast ·

2025/02/26

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.splitzoneduo.comThe history of the Kent State Golden Flashes is full of missed opportunities, real-life tragedies, and lots of losing—never more than in 2024, when Kent State had one of the worst teams in college football history. Why is the program perennially so bad? To answer that question, Rodger Sherman joins Alex and Richard for a deep dive into the Flashes. * A long history of great, memorable players on bad teams * Separating

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39:07

Offseason Vibe Checks 2025: The Sun Belt

Split Zone Duo: College Football Podcast ·

2025/02/25

Split Zone Duo’s “Offseason Vibe Check” series rolls on with the Sun Belt. It's not a 2024 recap, and it's not a 2025 preview. It's a check-in with every team in every FBS conference about what's been happening since Thanksgiving. How was the postseason? How was the coach carousel? How was signing day? How was the transfer portal window? And is anything else going on around your program? In this week’s Sun Belt episode, Alex Kirshner and Richard Johnson discuss: * Louisiana’s sour ending after being

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66:01

Offseason Vibe Checks 2025: The SEC

Split Zone Duo: College Football Podcast ·

2025/02/20

Welcome to Split Zone Duo’s “Offseason Vibe Check” series. It's not a 2024 recap, and it's not a 2025 preview. It's a check-in with every team in every FBS conference about what's been happening since Thanksgiving. How was the postseason? How was the coach carousel? How was signing day? How was the transfer portal window? And is anything else going on around your program? We start with the Southeastern Conference and will work our way from here.* Tennessee has had a quiet few months since Columbus*

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523 results

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